– What is so fatally wrong with mental health in Norway, that causes so many children to die? asks Kirsti Skogsholm. Her twins Mina Alexandra and Mille Andrea Hjalmarsen (16) were found in an apartment in Spydeberg on 8 January this year. They were on the run from a child protection institution, and probably died of a heroin overdose. The twins also struggled with serious eating disorders. When the phone rang early that cold January morning from an unknown number and the man introduced himself as the crisis priest in Indre Østfold, the mother realized what had happened. – I am quite sure that Mina and Mille would have been alive if they had received better health care. The pretty girls had their whole lives ahead of them. Several other parents have also received similar phones in recent years. Mina and Mille rest here. – The girls had future plans, they were social and had lots of friends. They were identical twins who were very close to each other, says the mother. Photo: John-André Samuelsen Several common denominators After the twins died, the government commissioned an investigation into all deaths in child welfare institutions in the past five years. The final report was presented today at the Norwegian Health Authority’s press conference. It shows, among other things, that eight teenage girls have died during this period. All lived in a child welfare institution. In addition, there was a ninth death in August. A young woman who had just turned 18 died in a child welfare institution. This death is not part of the Norwegian Health Authority’s investigation. There are clear common denominators between the eight deaths mentioned in the report: All the girls had serious health problems and received mental health care. The mental health care the girls received was lacking. All were living in a child welfare institution when they died. The parents of all the girls experienced great challenges in the meetings with the health services. Some of the girls struggled with serious eating disorders, and others with self-harm and/or risk of suicide. Some of the girls developed a substance abuse problem in the institution. For some of them, the drug problem escalated to extensive use and many overdoses. The institutions repeatedly described challenges in looking after the girls. The girls had few physical friends, but joined networks on social media. This contributed to worsening their situation. The girls who complained about enforcement decisions to the State Administrator were not upheld when the complaint was processed. The report points out that the collaboration between the health service and child protection did not work. The supervision can also be better and more adapted, it says. The Norwegian Health Authority’s acting director, Heidi Merete Rudi, presented the report at a press conference on Friday morning. Photo: John-André Samuelsen / news The differing understanding of who was responsible for what seemed to lead to a need to shift responsibility for measures onto one another, the report states. The report also states that parents and child welfare institutions were given too much responsibility. And that Bufetat struggled to find the right institutional offer. The Norwegian Health Authority assesses that the services are not designed with this patient group in mind, who are young, have complex challenges and are constantly moving. – We have not managed to take care of these children’s needs Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp) was present at today’s press conference. – We have not been able to take care of these children’s needs well enough. The services have failed to give the children the services they need, says Toppe. Minister for Children and Families Kjersti Toppe (Sp). Photo: John-André Samuelsen / news She describes the report as serious, and promises to do more in the future. She says that the content of the report will be used further in political work. – We have to go in and learn from serious incidents that happen, so that we can prevent children from perishing, says Toppe. – Could these deaths have been avoided? – That we can prevent more deaths, I mean that. Whether these could have been avoided, I cannot answer, says Toppe. She adds that she believes we can prevent deaths and serious incidents in child care by arranging the provision in a completely different way. Furthermore, Toppe acknowledges that there are many previous reports which show that there is a failure between the services. – Many people have described the problem before. But there are few who have described what we must and must do to bring about a change, says Toppe. Terrified of calories, and to live Twins Mina and Mille developed serious eating disorders when they were 13 years old. Eventually the disease took over and they were admitted to a youth psychiatric clinic in Fredrikstad, says the mother. There they received treatment for their eating disorders. After four months, the clinic thought that the girls had gained enough weight and that they should be discharged, says the mother. Mina and Mille then lived in ten different child welfare institutions, despite strong warnings and protests from several agencies, according to TV 2. – Mina and Mille needed mental health care, not to be placed in a child welfare institution, says Skogsholm. At times the illness was so bad that the twins stopped showering because they thought the water was getting into their bodies so they put on weight. Suicide attempts were also frequent. She stopped counting when the girls had tried to take their lives 30 times, says Skogsholm. – The institutions have neither the experience nor the capacity to handle such patients. At the institution, the twins were also introduced to illegal drugs, says the mother. The consequences were fatal. – Where Mina was, Mille was right behind. Most of them were like children before they got sick. They were caring, open and kind girls, says mother. Here from a photo shoot when the girls were little. Photo: Private Health Authority has warned for many years In the recent report, the Health Authority points out that the stories of the eight girls are not unique. They write that this fragmented contact with mental health services has been described before. The Norwegian Health Authority has several times previously pointed out major errors and shortcomings in child protection and the surrounding systems. Over several years, they have warned and come up with advice for improvement. For example, at the same time as when Mina and Mille were 12 years old, before they became ill: In 2018, the Norwegian Health Authority wrote the following after an inspection of child welfare institutions throughout the country: “It was discovered that children with problems related to substance abuse and mental health lived in institutions without employees with sufficient expertise in the areas.” In a review of 106 child welfare cases in 2019, they wrote: “Several of the children clearly need mental health care.” In May this year, they also published the state administrators’ annual reports from 2020 and 2021. It stated, among other things, that: “Children in need of mental health care do not receive the help they are entitled to.” – Someone must be able to feel this and take it in! Because there is someone who can do something about this, says Kirsti Skogsholm. Only once has it been surveyed how common serious mental disorders are among young people in child welfare institutions. In 2015, research from NTNU showed that 76 per cent have serious psychiatric diagnoses. This is the first, and so far the last time such a survey has been carried out in Norway. Kirsti Skogsholm hopes that we as a society can learn something from the tragic deaths of Mille and Mina. – So no one else has to experience receiving the phone call that I received on 8 January 2023.
ttn-69
Eight seriously mentally ill girls have died in five years – news Oslo og Viken – Local news, TV and radio
